Episode 19: When the Shit Hits the Fan, We’ll Be There

Has it only been a week since our last podcast?? It feels like an eternity! So much shit has hit the fan, we try and clear the waters. Or else we just make it worse. Highlights: Jeff holds Lance in contempt of blow hardiness. Jeff loses Twitter’s wheel, and we give Froome and Wiggins a new nickname: Fruggo or Fruggins. Anna sighs a lot.

Lance Saga!

Outside of the Tour, the Lance Saga has been the most talked about news. It’s a very legal case, with lots of factors and issues. At the core of it, Lance is trying to discredit USADA, first by saying it’s unconstitutional and then by trying to prove it doesn’t have jurisdiction over him.

Great analysis of the claims Armstrong is making in his injunction to stop USADA link

The only government money USADA receives is grant money, which they have to apply for- just like schools, students, artists, scientists. This means they are not a federal agency nor are they an agency acting as a state agent. So the Constitution (which applies only to the federal government) does not apply. @SarcasticTom lays all of that out very nicely in his Cyclismas article here.

USADA does have jurisdiction, and if they ban someone for life like they did Ferarri, Del Moral and Marti (article), the UCI has to respect and enforce this ban, as they are a signature of WADA. Inner Ring explains this here and WADA’s friendly reminder reinforces it.

The Tour!

Is the Tour boring? We discuss.

We discuss the rant that inflamed Twitter. Anna tries to explain why she, and others in America, got so riled up about his word choice. She also feels very conflicted about Wiggins and talks about why she keeps going back and forth on him. Basically, we think it comes down to the fact that he is not comfortable in the spotlight. And we think Wiggins needs some a PR talk from a wise old man, like Kevin Costner did in Bull Durham:

We dive into the Wiggins/Froome debate. Anna says Froome is an adult who made his own decision to stay at Sky. Let it drop.

Let’s preface by saying: we don’t think Sky or Wiggins dopes. That said, how much does Sky resemble US Postal, when it comes to tactics?

We review the VeloGames standing. If you’re on our team, and we don’t know you, give us a shout out!

We discuss Nibali’s chances. Also Anna wonders if Liqugas is “punishing” Nibali for leaving at the end of the year by giving him a shit support team. Jeff is skeptical.